Vera Frances

Who is Vera Frances?

Vera Frances is a British actress who worked with Arthur Askey, Tommy Handley, George Formby, Dinah Sheridan, John Mills and Alastair Sim, among others.

Frances's father was a props and special effects man for Gainsborough Pictures at Grove Studio's in Shepherds Bush, and put her forward for an audition in Back-Room Boy as the Cockney girl Jane. After the screen test for Back-Room Boy, she got the part and went on to make another five films.

In her early teens Frances left the movies to follow her ambition to be a dance teacher. This proved to be very successful and resulted in a dance school. After marrying Dennis William Ward in 1953 Frances moved the school to March in Cambridgeshire. Dennis Ward died in Cambridge aged 73 in 2000; Vera Frances still lives in Cambridgeshire.